Comparing Erikson's Views On Introversion And Extroverts

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Jung theorized that much of our conscious perception of our environment could be determined by the opposing mental attitudes of extroversion and introversion. Extroversion is defined as an attitude characterized by an orientation toward the external world and other people. Extroverts are perceived to be open, sociable, and socially assertive individuals. Introversion is defined as an attitude characterized by an orientation toward one's own thoughts and feelings. Introverts are said to be withdrawn from society and often shy, tending to focus on themselves (Schultz & Schultz, 2017). I would have to say that Carl Jung would classify Erikson as having an introversion attitude. Erikson had troubles fitting into social groups when starting school, due to his ethnic background …show more content…

He was not socially accepted by his Jewish classmates because of his Aryan physical features, and he was not accepted by his German classmates for his Jewish background (Schultz & Schultz, 2017). In addition, Erikson would later drop out of society in order to find himself and his true identity (Schultz & Schultz, 2017). I believe that Erikson's struggles with his society at a young age would make him more introverted, and dropping out of society in order to search for his himself corroborates my belief. Jung's psychological types are based on the interactions of the two attitudes and four functions. These attitudes are defined as introversion and extroversion, while the functions are defined as thinking, feeling, sensing, and intuiting (Schultz & Schultz, 2017). When looking at Jung's psychological types, I find that Erikson fits into two types, depending on what part of his life I examine. The first type would be the introverted intuiting type. People

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